Works by Rembrandt, Raphael bring record prices

Aportrait by Rembrandt and a drawing by Raphael drew record prices at Christie's auction house in London on Tuesday.

A portrait of an unknown man standing with arms akimbo by Dutch master Rembrandt von Rijn sold for 20.2 million ($35 million Cdn), surpassing the previous record of 19.8 million ($34 million Cdn).

Less than an hour later, a Raphael sketch, Head of a Muse,fetched 29.2 million ($50.5 million Cdn), the most paid for an Old Master drawing.

Christie's raised a total of 68.4 million ($118 million Cdn) in its sale of Old Masters drawings and paintings Tuesday, defying the economic downturn. A Christie's spokesman said bidding was strong because there is very little art on offer.

Johnson & Johnson heiress Barbara Piasecka Johnson sold the 1658 Portrait of a Man With Arms Akimbo by Rembrandt, who painted it in a turbulent period of his life when he needed money.

Head of a Muse, a black chalk sketch by 15th-century Florentine painter Raphael, was a study for his Vatican fresco Parnassus. It was sold by heirs of the British collector, Norman Colville, and had been estimated to sell as low as $20.7 million.

The previous record prices for an Old Master drawing at auction was $14 million, paid foreach ofMichelangelo's The Risen Christ and for Leonardo da Vinci's Horse and Rider.